U.S. patent application number 13/301577 was filed with the patent office on 2012-03-15 for application for generating interactive document containing advertising material.
This patent application is currently assigned to Silverbrook Research Pty Ltd. Invention is credited to Paul Lapstun, Kia Silverbrook.
Application Number | 20120062953 13/301577 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 3817783 |
Filed Date | 2012-03-15 |
United States Patent
Application |
20120062953 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Silverbrook; Kia ; et
al. |
March 15, 2012 |
APPLICATION FOR GENERATING INTERACTIVE DOCUMENT CONTAINING
ADVERTISING MATERIAL
Abstract
An application for execution on a computer system which
generates print data for an interactive document. The application
is configured to operatively control the computer system so as to
perform the steps of: receive a print request from a user; format
user information in an electronic document so as to include a first
user interactive element; determine advertising material for
printing with the user information; format the advertising material
so as to include a second user interactive element; and generate
print data for printing the formatted user information and the
formatted advertising material together with coincident coded data
on a substrate.
Inventors: |
Silverbrook; Kia; (Balmain,
AU) ; Lapstun; Paul; (Balmain, AU) |
Assignee: |
Silverbrook Research Pty
Ltd
|
Family ID: |
3817783 |
Appl. No.: |
13/301577 |
Filed: |
November 21, 2011 |
Related U.S. Patent Documents
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Application
Number |
Filing Date |
Patent Number |
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13079002 |
Apr 3, 2011 |
8072625 |
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13301577 |
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12835408 |
Jul 13, 2010 |
7940404 |
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13079002 |
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11706964 |
Feb 16, 2007 |
7760371 |
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12835408 |
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09693415 |
Oct 20, 2000 |
7190474 |
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11706964 |
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Current U.S.
Class: |
358/1.15 |
Current CPC
Class: |
G09B 29/106 20130101;
A63F 13/12 20130101; H04N 1/32122 20130101; H04N 1/00358 20130101;
G01C 21/3623 20130101; H04N 1/00376 20130101; H04N 2201/327
20130101; B42C 9/0081 20130101; B41J 2/17513 20130101; H04N 1/32101
20130101; G09B 5/02 20130101; H04N 2201/3271 20130101; H04N
2201/3278 20130101; A63F 2009/241 20130101; A63F 9/183 20130101;
G09B 29/007 20130101; G06K 9/222 20130101; H04N 1/32128 20130101;
H04N 2201/3205 20130101; A63F 2003/0439 20130101; H04N 1/00204
20130101; B41J 13/106 20130101; A63F 2300/532 20130101; H04N
2201/3242 20130101; G01C 21/362 20130101; H04N 1/32771 20130101;
B41J 2/2114 20130101; H04N 1/32778 20130101; H04N 2201/3207
20130101; H04N 2201/3226 20130101; H04N 1/00567 20130101; B41J
2/17503 20130101; G06F 3/03545 20130101; B41J 2/17553 20130101;
A63F 2009/186 20130101; H04N 1/32133 20130101 |
Class at
Publication: |
358/1.15 |
International
Class: |
G06F 3/12 20060101
G06F003/12 |
Foreign Application Data
Date |
Code |
Application Number |
Oct 25, 1999 |
AU |
PQ3632 |
Claims
1. An application for execution on a computer system which
generates print data for an interactive document, said interactive
document comprising printed user information and printed
advertising material, the application being configured to
operatively control the computer system so as to perform the steps
of: receive a print request from a user, said print request
requesting printing of an electronic document stored in said
computer system; format user information in the electronic document
so as to include a first user interactive element, thereby allowing
the user to effect a response to the printed information using a
sensing device; determine the advertising material for printing
with the user information, said advertising material being based at
least partially on the user information; format the advertising
material so as to include a second user interactive element,
thereby enabling the user to effect a response to the advertising
material, using the sensing device; and generate print data for
printing the formatted user information and the formatted
advertising material together with coincident coded data on a
substrate, said coded data being readable by the sensing device and
being indicative of a document identity and the first and second
interactive elements.
2. The application of claim 1, wherein the print data is for a
duplexed printer such that the advertising material is printed on a
reverse side of the substrate relative to the user information.
3. The application of claim 1, wherein the coded data identifies a
plurality of locations on the substrate.
4. The application of claim 1, wherein the coded data identifies a
document identity.
5. The application of claim 4, which is configured to operatively
control the computer system so as to perform the further step of:
maintain a page description corresponding to the printed document,
the page description being indexed with the document identity as
contained in the coded data.
Description
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
[0001] This application is a continuation of U.S. application Ser.
No. 13/079,002 filed Apr. 3, 2011, which is a continuation of U.S.
application Ser. No. 12/835,408 filed Jul. 13, 2010, now issued
U.S. Pat. No. 7,940,404, which is a continuation of U.S.
application Ser. No. 11/706,964 filed Feb. 16, 2007, now issued
U.S. Pat. No. 7,760,371, which is a continuation of U.S.
application Ser. No. 09/693,415 filed on Oct. 20, 2000, now issued
U.S. Pat. No. 7,190,474 all of which are herein incorporated by
reference.
FIELD OF INVENTION
[0002] The present invention relates generally to electronically
delivered printed documents and, more particularly, to a method and
system for the automatic placement of advertising in otherwise
empty space in such printed documents.
CO-PENDING APPLICATIONS
[0003] Various methods, systems and apparatus relating to the
present invention are disclosed in the following co-pending
applications/granted patents filed by the applicant or assignee of
the present invention with the present invention:
TABLE-US-00001 7,190,474 7,110,126 6,813,558 6,965,454 6,847,883
7,131,058 7,533,031 6,982,798 6,474,888 6,627,870 6,724,374
7,369,265 6,454,482 6,808,330 6,527,365 6,474,773 6,550,997
[0004] The disclosures of these co-pending applications are
incorporated herein by cross-reference.
[0005] Various methods, systems and apparatus relating to the
present invention are disclosed in the following co-pending
applications/granted patents filed by the applicant or assignee of
the present invention on Sep. 15, 2000:
TABLE-US-00002 6,679,420 6,963,845 6,995,859 6,720,985
[0006] The disclosures of these co-pending applications are
incorporated herein by cross-reference.
[0007] Various methods, systems and apparatus relating to the
present invention are disclosed in the following co-pending
applications/granted patents filed by the applicant or assignee of
the present invention on Jun. 30, 2000:
TABLE-US-00003 6,824,044 6,678,499 6,976,220 6,976,035 6,766,942
7,286,113 6,922,779 6,978,019 7,406,445 6,959,298 6,973,450
7,150,404 6,965,882 7,233,924 7,007,851 6,957,921 6,457,883
6,831,682 6,977,751 6,398,332 6,394,573 6,622,923
[0008] The disclosures of these co-pending applications are
incorporated herein by cross-reference.
[0009] Various methods, systems and apparatus relating to the
present invention are disclosed in the following co-pending
applications/granted patents filed by the applicant or assignee of
the present invention on 23 May 2000:
TABLE-US-00004 6,428,133 6,526,658 6,315,399 6,338,548 6,540,319
6,328,431 6,328,425 6,991,320 6,383,833 6,464,332 6,390,591
7,018,016 6,328,417 7,721,948 7,079,712 6,980,318 6,825,945
7,330,974 6,813,039 6,987,506 7,038,797 7,173,722 6,816,274
7,102,772 7,350,236 6,681,045 6,728,000 6,789,191 7,088,459
7,707,082 7,068,382 7,062,651 6,789,194 6,987,573 6,644,642
6,502,614 6,622,999 6,669,385 6,549,935 6,290,349 6,727,996
6,591,884 6,439,706 6,760,119 7,295,332 7,055,739 6,428,155
6,785,016 6,870,966 6,822,639 6,737,591 7,456,820 7,233,320
6,830,196 6,832,717 6,957,768 6,281,912 6,604,810 7,170,499
7,106,888 7,123,239 6,409,323 6,859,289 7,154,638 6,318,920
6,488,422 6,795,215
[0010] The disclosures of these co-pending applications are
incorporated herein by cross-reference.
BACKGROUND
[0011] Advertising has traditionally been distributed in printed
publications, and typically placed to exploit the editorial
context, the locality of the publication's distribution, and the
demographic of its readership.
[0012] In more recent times advertising has been distributed as
part of Web pages. The Web page advertising space is typically
specifically allocated for, and dedicated to, advertising.
Advertisements typically are often customised and targeted based on
the page being viewed or the search being carried out by the user.
If the user is registered with the site the advertising may be
targeted to the user's demographic based on the user's known
profile.
SUMMARY OF INVENTION
[0013] It is an objective of the present invention to provide a new
method and system for advertising.
[0014] In a first aspect, the present invention provides a method
of producing a document by formatting user requested information in
the document so as to include one user interactive element, to
allow the user to effect a response to the information, using a
sensing device for transmitting response data back to a computer
system, including:
[0015] identifying an advertising space, outside an area of the
document to be occupied by the information; and
[0016] printing the document with advertising material in the
space.
[0017] Preferably, the advertising space is determined to be on a
reverse side of the document relative to the user requested
information.
[0018] Preferably also, the information is formatted at a
publication server of the computer system and the method includes
the publication server monitoring the said area and, once the space
is identified, receiving the advertising material from an
advertising server, for inclusion in the document.
[0019] Preferably also, the document is printed with coded data,
for sensing by the sensing device, indicative of an identity of the
document and of the at least one interactive element. Preferably
also, the document is printed on a surface defining structure at
the same time as the coded data is printed on the surfaces.
Preferably also, the method includes including retaining a
retrievable record of the printed document, the document being
retrievable using the identity data as contained in the coded
data.
[0020] Preferably also, wherein the sensing device includes an
identification code specific to a particular user and the method
includes monitoring use of the sensing device in the computer
system.
[0021] In a second aspect, the present invention provides a system
for producing a document, including:
[0022] a computer system for formatting user requested information
in the document so as to include at least one user interactive
element, to allow the user to effect a response to the information,
using a sensing device for transmitting response data back to the
computer system, wherein the computer system is arranged to
identify an advertising space, outside an area of the document to
be occupied by the information and to effect printing of the
document with advertising material in said space.
[0023] Preferably, the system includes a printer adapted to print
on both sides of the document, in order to print the advertising
material on a reverse side of the document, relative to the user
requested information.
[0024] Preferably also, the computer system includes a publication
server for formatting the document and an advertising server for
providing the advertising material, wherein the publication server
monitors said area and receives advertising material from the
advertising server, for inclusion in the document.
[0025] Preferably also, the document includes coded data indicative
of an identity of the document and of the at least one interactive
element. Preferably also, the printer is arranged to print the
coded data at the same time as printing the document on a surface
defining structure. Preferably also, wherein the coded data is
substantially invisible in the visible spectrum. Preferably also,
the system includes a database for keeping a retrievable record of
each document generated, each document being retrievable by using
its identity, as included in the coded data.
[0026] Accordingly, the present invention provides a method and
system which utilizes one or more forms capable of interacting with
a computer system. Whilst the novel method and system of the
present invention may be used in conjunction with a single computer
system, in a particularly preferred form it is designed to operate
over a computer network, such as the Internet.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS
[0027] Preferred and other embodiments of the invention will now be
described, by way of non-limiting example only, with reference to
the accompanying drawings, in which:
[0028] FIG. 1 is a schematic of a the relationship between a sample
printed netpage and its online page description;
[0029] FIG. 2 is a schematic view of a interaction between a
netpage pen, a netpage printer, a netpage page server, and a
netpage application server;
[0030] FIG. 3 is a schematic view of a high-level structure of a
printed netpage and its online page description;
[0031] FIG. 4A is a plan view showing a structure of a netpage
tag;
[0032] FIG. 4B is a plan view showing a relationship between a set
of the tags shown in FIG. 4A and a field of view of a netpage
sensing device in the form of a netpage pen;
[0033] FIG. 5A is a plan view showing an alternative structure of a
netpage tag;
[0034] FIG. 5B is a plan view showing a relationship between a set
of the tags shown in FIG. 5A and a field of view of a netpage
sensing device in the form of a netpage pen;
[0035] FIG. 5C is a plan view showing an arrangement of nine of the
tags shown in FIG. 5A where targets are shared between adjacent
tags;
[0036] FIG. 5D is a plan view showing the interleaving and rotation
of the symbols of the four codewords of the tag shown in FIG.
5A;
[0037] FIG. 6 is a example of an advertisement placed within free
space on a page; and
[0038] FIG. 7 is an example of an advertisement placed on the
reverse-side of a page.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED AND OTHER EMBODIMENTS
[0039] Note: Memjet.TM. is a trademark of Silverbrook Research Pty
Ltd, Australia.
[0040] In the preferred embodiment, the invention is configured to
work with the netpage networked computer system, a summary of which
is given below and a detailed description of which is given in our
earlier applications, including in particular applications U.S.
Pat. No. 7,233,320, U.S. Pat. No. 6,870,966, U.S. Pat. No.
6,727,996, U.S. Ser. No. 09/575,195 and U.S. Pat. No. 6,428,133. It
will be appreciated that not every implementation will necessarily
embody all or even most of the specific details and extensions
described in these applications in relation to the basic system.
However, the system is described in its most complete form to
assist in understanding the context in which the preferred
embodiments and aspects of the present invention operate.
[0041] In brief summary, the preferred form of the netpage system
employs a computer interface in the form of a mapped surface, that
is, a physical surface which contains references to a map of the
surface maintained in a computer system. The map references can be
queried by an appropriate sensing device. Depending upon the
specific implementation, the map references may be encoded visibly
or invisibly, and defined in such a way that a local query on the
mapped surface yields an unambiguous map reference both within the
map and among different maps. The computer system can contain
information about features on the mapped surface, and such
information can be retrieved based on map references supplied by a
sensing device used with the mapped surface. The information thus
retrieved can take the form of actions which are initiated by the
computer system on behalf of the operator in response to the
operator's interaction with the surface features.
[0042] In its preferred form, the netpage system relies on the
production of, and human interaction with, netpages. These are
pages of text, graphics and images printed on ordinary paper or
other media, but which work like interactive web pages. Information
is encoded on each page using ink which is substantially invisible
to the unaided human eye. The ink, however, and thereby the coded
data, can be sensed by an optically imaging pen and transmitted to
the netpage system.
[0043] In the preferred form, active buttons and hyperlinks on each
page can be clicked with the pen to request information from the
network or to signal preferences to a network server. In one
embodiment, text written by hand on a netpage is automatically
recognized and converted to computer text in the netpage system,
allowing forms to be filled in. In other embodiments, signatures
recorded on a netpage are automatically verified, allowing
e-commerce transactions to be securely authorized.
[0044] As illustrated in FIG. 1, a printed netpage 1 can represent
a interactive form which can be filled in by the user both
physically, on the printed page, and "electronically", via
communication between the pen and the netpage system. The example
shows a "Request" form containing name and address fields and a
submit button. The netpage consists of graphic data 2 printed using
visible ink, and coded data 3 printed as a collection of tags 4
using invisible ink. The corresponding page description 5, stored
on the netpage network, describes the individual elements of the
netpage. In particular it describes the type and spatial extent
(zone) of each interactive element (i.e. text field or button in
the example), to allow the netpage system to correctly interpret
input via the netpage. The submit button 6, for example, has a zone
7 which corresponds to the spatial extent of the corresponding
graphic 8.
[0045] As illustrated in FIG. 2, the netpage pen 101, a preferred
form of which is described in our earlier application U.S. Ser. No.
09/575,174, works in conjunction with a netpage printer 601, an
Internet-connected printing appliance for home, office or mobile
use. The pen is wireless and communicates securely with the netpage
printer via a short-range radio link 9.
[0046] The netpage printer 601, preferred forms of which are
described in our earlier application U.S. Pat. No. 6,727,996 and
our co-filed application U.S. Ser. No. 09/693,514, is able to
deliver, periodically or on demand, personalized newspapers,
magazines, catalogs, brochures and other publications, all printed
at high quality as interactive netpages. Unlike a personal
computer, the netpage printer is an appliance which can be, for
example, wall-mounted adjacent to an area where the morning news is
first consumed, such as in a user's kitchen, near a breakfast
table, or near the household's point of departure for the day. It
also comes in tabletop, desktop, portable and miniature
versions.
[0047] Netpages printed at their point of consumption combine the
ease-of-use of paper with the timeliness and interactivity of an
interactive medium.
[0048] As shown in FIG. 2, the netpage pen 101 interacts with the
coded data on a printed netpage 1 and communicates, via a
short-range radio link 9, the interaction to a netpage printer. The
printer 601 sends the interaction to the relevant netpage page
server 10 for interpretation. In appropriate circumstances, the
page server sends a corresponding message to application computer
software running on a netpage application server 13. The
application server may in turn send a response which is printed on
the originating printer.
[0049] The netpage system is made considerably more convenient in
the preferred embodiment by being used in conjunction with
high-speed microelectromechanical system (MEMS) based inkjet
(Memjet.TM.) printers, described in our earlier application U.S.
Pat. No. 6,428,133. In the preferred form of this technology,
relatively high-speed and high-quality printing is made more
affordable to consumers. In its preferred form, a netpage
publication has the physical characteristics of a traditional
newsmagazine, such as a set of letter-size glossy pages printed in
full color on both sides, bound together for easy navigation and
comfortable handling.
[0050] The netpage printer exploits the growing availability of
broadband Internet access. The netpage printer can also operate
with slower connections, but with longer delivery times and lower
image quality. The netpage system can also be enabled using
existing consumer inkjet and laser printers, although the system
will operate more slowly and will therefore be less acceptable from
a consumer's point of view. In other embodiments, the netpage
system is hosted on a private intranet. In still other embodiments,
the netpage system is hosted on a single computer or
computer-enabled device, such as a printer.
[0051] Netpage publication servers 14 on the netpage network are
configured to deliver print-quality publications to netpage
printers. Periodical publications are delivered automatically to
subscribing netpage printers via pointcasting and multicasting
Internet protocols. Personalized publications are filtered and
formatted according to individual user profiles.
[0052] A netpage printer can be configured to support any number of
pens, and a pen can work with any number of netpage printers. In
the preferred implementation, each netpage pen has a unique
identifier. A household may have a collection of colored netpage
pens, one assigned to each member of the family. This allows each
user to maintain a distinct profile with respect to a netpage
publication server or application server.
[0053] A netpage pen can also be registered with a netpage
registration server 11 and linked to one or more payment card
accounts. This allows e-commerce payments to be securely authorized
using the netpage pen. The netpage registration server compares the
signature captured by the netpage pen with a previously registered
signature, allowing it to authenticate the user's identity to an
e-commerce server. Other biometrics can also be used to verify
identity. A version of the netpage pen includes fingerprint
scanning, verified in a similar way by the netpage registration
server.
[0054] Although a netpage printer may deliver periodicals such as
the morning newspaper without user intervention, it can be
configured never to deliver unsolicited junk mail. In its preferred
form, it only delivers periodicals from subscribed or otherwise
authorized sources. In this respect, the netpage printer is unlike
a fax machine or e-mail account which is visible to any junk mailer
who knows the telephone number or e-mail address.
[0055] Each object model in the system is described using a Unified
Modeling Language (UML) class diagram. A class diagram consists of
a set of object classes connected by relationships, and two kinds
of relationships are of interest here: associations and
generalizations. An association represents some kind of
relationship between objects, i.e. between instances of classes. A
generalization relates actual classes, and can be understood in the
following way: if a class is thought of as the set of all objects
of that class, and class A is a generalization of class B, then B
is simply a subset of A. Each class is drawn as a rectangle
labelled with the name of the class. It contains a list of the
attributes of the class, separated from the name by a horizontal
line, and a list of the operations of the class, separated from the
attribute list by a horizontal line. In the class diagrams which
follow, however, operations are never modelled. An association is
drawn as a line joining two classes, optionally labelled at either
end with the multiplicity of the association. The default
multiplicity is one. An asterisk (*) indicates a multiplicity of
"many", i.e. zero or more. Each association is optionally labelled
with its name, and is also optionally labelled at either end with
the role of the corresponding class. An open diamond indicates an
aggregation association ("is-part-of"), and is drawn at the
aggregator end of the association line. A generalization
relationship ("is-a") is drawn as a solid line joining two classes,
with an arrow (in the form of an open triangle) at the
generalization end. When a class diagram is broken up into multiple
diagrams, any class which is duplicated is shown with a dashed
outline in all but the main diagram which defines it. It is shown
with attributes only where it is defined.
[0056] Netpages are the foundation on which a netpage network is
built. They provide a paper-based user interface to published
information and interactive services. A netpage consists of a
printed page (or other surface region) invisibly tagged with
references to an online description of the page. The online page
description is maintained persistently by a netpage page server.
The page description describes the visible layout and content of
the page, including text, graphics and images. It also describes
the input elements on the page, including buttons, hyperlinks, and
input fields. A netpage allows markings made with a netpage pen on
its surface to be simultaneously captured and processed by the
netpage system.
[0057] Multiple netpages can share the same page description.
However, to allow input through otherwise identical pages to be
distinguished, each netpage is assigned a unique page identifier.
This page ID has sufficient precision to distinguish between a very
large number of netpages.
[0058] Each reference to the page description is encoded in a
printed tag. The tag identifies the unique page on which it
appears, and thereby indirectly identifies the page description.
The tag also identifies its own position on the page.
Characteristics of the tags are described in more detail below.
[0059] Tags are printed in infrared-absorptive ink on any substrate
which is infrared-reflective, such as ordinary paper. Near-infrared
wavelengths are invisible to the human eye but are easily sensed by
a solid-state image sensor with an appropriate filter.
[0060] A tag is sensed by an area image sensor in the netpage pen,
and the tag data is transmitted to the netpage system via the
nearest netpage printer. The pen is wireless and communicates with
the netpage printer via a short-range radio link. Tags are
sufficiently small and densely arranged that the pen can reliably
image at least one tag even on a single click on the page. It is
important that the pen recognize the page ID and position on every
interaction with the page, since the interaction is stateless. Tags
are error-correctably encoded to make them partially tolerant to
surface damage.
[0061] The netpage page server maintains a unique page instance for
each printed netpage, allowing it to maintain a distinct set of
user-supplied values for input fields in the page description for
each printed netpage.
[0062] The relationship between the page description, the page
instance, and the printed netpage is shown in FIG. 3. The printed
netpage may be part of a printed netpage document 45. The page
instance is associated with both the netpage printer which printed
it and, if known, the netpage user who requested it.
[0063] In a preferred form, each tag identifies the region in which
it appears, and the location of that tag within the region. A tag
may also contain flags which relate to the region as a whole or to
the tag. One or more flag bits may, for example, signal a tag
sensing device to provide feedback indicative of a function
associated with the immediate area of the tag, without the sensing
device having to refer to a description of the region. A netpage
pen may, for example, illuminate an "active area" LED when in the
zone of a hyperlink.
[0064] In a preferred embodiment, each tag contains an easily
recognized invariant structure which aids initial detection, and
which assists in minimizing the effect of any warp induced by the
surface or by the sensing process. The tags preferably tile the
entire page, and are sufficiently small and densely arranged that
the pen can reliably image at least one tag even on a single click
on the page. It is important that the pen recognize the page ID and
position on every interaction with the page, since the interaction
is stateless.
[0065] In a preferred embodiment, the region to which a tag refers
coincides with an entire page, and the region ID encoded in the tag
is therefore synonymous with the page ID of the page on which the
tag appears. In other embodiments, the region to which a tag refers
can be an arbitrary subregion of a page or other surface. For
example, it can coincide with the zone of an interactive element,
in which case the region ID can directly identify the interactive
element.
[0066] Each tag contains typically contains 16 bits of tag ID, at
least 90 bits of region ID, and a number of flag bits. Assuming a
maximum tag density of 64 per square inch, a 16-bit tag ID supports
a region size of up to 1024 square inches. Larger regions can be
mapped continuously without increasing the tag ID precision simply
by using abutting regions and maps. The distinction between a
region ID and a tag ID is mostly one of convenience. For most
purposes the concatenation of the two can be considered as a
globally unique tag ID. Conversely, it may also be convenient to
introduce structure into the tag ID, for example to define the x
and y coordinates of the tag. A 90-bit region ID allows 2.sup.90
(.about.10.sup.27 or a thousand trillion trillion) different
regions to be uniquely identified. Tags may also contain type
information, and a region may be tagged with a mixture of tag
types. For example, a region may be tagged with one set of tags
encoding x coordinates and another set, interleaved with the first,
encoding y coordinates.
[0067] In one embodiment, 120 bits of tag data are redundantly
encoded using a (15, 5) Reed-Solomon code. This yields 360 encoded
bits consisting of 6 codewords of 15 4-bit symbols each. The (15,
5) code allows up to 5 symbol errors to be corrected per codeword,
i.e. it is tolerant of a symbol error rate of up to 33% per
codeword. Each 4-bit symbol is represented in a spatially coherent
way in the tag, and the symbols of the six codewords are
interleaved spatially within the tag. This ensures that a burst
error (an error affecting multiple spatially adjacent bits) damages
a minimum number of symbols overall and a minimum number of symbols
in any one codeword, thus maximising the likelihood that the burst
error can be fully corrected.
[0068] Any suitable error-correcting code can be used in place of a
(15, 5) Reed-Solomon code, for example a Reed-Solomon code with
more or less redundancy, with the same or different symbol and
codeword sizes; another block code; or a different kind of code,
such as a convolutional code (see, for example, Stephen B. Wicker,
Error Control Systems for Digital Communication and Storage,
Prentice-Hall 1995, the contents of which a herein incorporated by
cross-reference).
[0069] One embodiment of the physical representation of the tag,
shown in FIG. 4a and described in our earlier application U.S. Ser.
No. 09/575,129, includes fixed target structures 15, 16, 17 and
variable data areas 18. The fixed target structures allow a sensing
device such as the netpage pen to detect the tag and infer its
three-dimensional orientation relative to the sensor. The data
areas contain representations of the individual bits of the encoded
tag data. To maximise its size, each data bit is represented by a
radial wedge in the form of an area bounded by two radial lines and
two concentric circular arcs. Each wedge has a minimum dimension of
8 dots at 1600 dpi and is designed so that its base (its inner
arc), is at least equal to this minimum dimension. The height of
the wedge in the radial direction is always equal to the minimum
dimension. Each 4-bit data symbol is represented by an array of
2.times.2 wedges. The fifteen 4-bit data symbols of each of the six
codewords are allocated to the four concentric symbol rings 18a to
18d in interleaved fashion. Symbols are allocated alternately in
circular progression around the tag. The interleaving is designed
to maximise the average spatial distance between any two symbols of
the same codeword.
[0070] In order to support "single-click" interaction with a tagged
region via a sensing device, the sensing device must be able to see
at least one entire tag in its field of view no matter where in the
region or at what orientation it is positioned. The required
diameter of the field of view of the sensing device is therefore a
function of the size and spacing of the tags. Assuming a circular
tag shape, the minimum diameter of the sensor field of view 193 is
obtained when the tags are tiled on a equilateral triangular grid,
as shown in FIG. 4b.
[0071] The tag structure just described is designed to allow both
regular tilings of planar surfaces and irregular tilings of
non-planar surfaces. Regular tilings are not, in general, possible
on non-planar surfaces. In the more usual case of planar surfaces
where regular tilings of tags are possible, i.e. surfaces such as
sheets of paper and the like, more efficient tag structures can be
used which exploit the regular nature of the tiling.
[0072] An alternative tag structure more suited to a regular tiling
is shown in FIG. 5a. The tag 4 is square and has four perspective
targets 17. It is similar in structure to tags described by Bennett
et al. in U.S. Pat. No. 5,051,746. The tag represents sixty 4-bit
Reed-Solomon symbols 47, for a total of 240 bits. The tag
represents each one bit as a dot 48, and each zero bit by the
absence of the corresponding dot. The perspective targets are
designed to be shared between adjacent tags, as shown in FIGS. 5b
and 5c. FIG. 5b shows a square tiling of 16 tags and the
corresponding minimum field of view 193, which must span the
diagonals of two tags. FIG. 5c shows a square tiling of nine tags,
containing all one bits for illustration purposes.
[0073] Using a (15, 7) Reed-Solomon code, 112 bits of tag data are
redundantly encoded to produce 240 encoded bits. The four codewords
are interleaved spatially within the tag to maximize resilience to
burst errors. Assuming a 16-bit tag ID as before, this allows a
region ID of up to 92 bits. The data-bearing dots 48 of the tag are
designed to not overlap their neighbors, so that groups of tags
cannot produce structures which resemble targets. This also saves
ink. The perspective targets therefore allow detection of the tag,
so further targets are not required.
[0074] Although the tag may contain an orientation feature to allow
disambiguation of the four possible orientations of the tag
relative to the sensor, it is also possible to embed orientation
data in the tag data. For example, the four codewords can be
arranged so that each tag orientation contains one codeword placed
at that orientation, as shown in FIG. 5d, where each symbol is
labelled with the number of its codeword (1-4) and the position of
the symbol within the codeword (A-O). Tag decoding then consists of
decoding one codeword at each orientation. Each codeword can either
contain a single bit indicating whether it is the first codeword,
or two bits indicating which codeword it is. The latter approach
has the advantage that if, say, the data content of only one
codeword is required, then at most two codewords need to be decoded
to obtain the desired data. This may be the case if the region ID
is not expected to change within a stroke and is thus only decoded
at the start of a stroke. Within a stroke only the codeword
containing the tag ID is then desired. Furthermore, since the
rotation of the sensing device changes slowly and predictably
within a stroke, only one codeword typically needs to be decoded
per frame.
[0075] It is possible to dispense with perspective targets
altogether and instead rely on the data representation being
self-registering. In this case each bit value (or multi-bit value)
is typically represented by an explicit glyph, i.e. no bit value is
represented by the absence of a glyph. This ensures that the data
grid is well-populated, and thus allows the grid to be reliably
identified and its perspective distortion detected and subsequently
corrected during data sampling. To allow tag boundaries to be
detected, each tag data must contain a marker pattern, and these
must be redundantly encoded to allow reliable detection. The
overhead of such marker patterns is similar to the overhead of
explicit perspective targets. One such scheme uses dots positioned
a various points relative to grid vertices to represent different
glyphs and hence different multi-bit values (see Anoto Technology
Description, Anoto April 2000).
[0076] Decoding a tag results in a region ID, a tag ID, and a
tag-relative pen transform. Before the tag ID and the tag-relative
pen location can be translated into an absolute location within the
tagged region, the location of the tag within the region must be
known. This is given by a tag map, a function which maps each tag
ID in a tagged region to a corresponding location. A tag map
reflects the scheme used to tile the surface region with tags, and
this can vary according to surface type. When multiple tagged
regions share the same tiling scheme and the same tag numbering
scheme, they can also share the same tag map. The tag map for a
region must be retrievable via the region ID. Thus, given a region
ID, a tag ID and a pen transform, the tag map can be retrieved, the
tag ID can be translated into an absolute tag location within the
region, and the tag-relative pen location can be added to the tag
location to yield an absolute pen location within the region.
[0077] The tag ID may have a structure which assists translation
through the tag map. It may, for example, encoded cartesian
coordinates or polar coordinates, depending on the surface type on
which it appears. The tag ID structure is dictated by and known to
the tag map, and tag IDs associated with different tag maps may
therefore have different structures.
[0078] Two distinct surface coding schemes are of interest, both of
which use the tag structure described earlier in this section. The
preferred coding scheme uses "location-indicating" tags as already
discussed. An alternative coding scheme uses "object-indicating"
(or "function-indicating") tags.
[0079] A location-indicating tag contains a tag ID which, when
translated through the tag map associated with the tagged region,
yields a unique tag location within the region. The tag-relative
location of the pen is added to this tag location to yield the
location of the pen within the region. This in turn is used to
determine the location of the pen relative to a user interface
element in the page description associated with the region. Not
only is the user interface element itself identified, but a
location relative to the user interface element is identified.
Location-indicating tags therefore trivially support the capture of
an absolute pen path in the zone of a particular user interface
element.
[0080] An object-indicating (or function-indicating) tag contains a
tag ID which directly identifies a user interface element in the
page description associated with the region (or equivalently, a
function). All the tags in the zone of the user interface element
identify the user interface element, making them all identical and
therefore indistinguishable. Object-indicating tags do not,
therefore, support the capture of an absolute pen path. They do,
however, support the capture of a relative pen path. So long as the
position sampling frequency exceeds twice the encountered tag
frequency, the displacement from one sampled pen position to the
next within a stroke can be unambiguously determined. As an
alternative, the netpage pen 101 can contain a pair or
motion-sensing accelerometers, as described in our earlier
application U.S. Ser. No. 09/575,174.
[0081] With either tagging scheme, the tags function in cooperation
with associated visual elements on the netpage as user interactive
elements in that a user can interact with the printed page using an
appropriate sensing device in order for tag data to be read by the
sensing device and for an appropriate response to be generated in
the netpage system.
Personalized Publication Model
[0082] In the following description, news is used as a canonical
publication example to illustrate personalization mechanisms in the
netpage system. Although news is often used in the limited sense of
newspaper and newsmagazine news, the intended scope in the present
context is wider.
[0083] In the netpage system, the editorial content and the
advertising content of a news publication are personalized using
different mechanisms. The editorial content is personalized
according to the reader's explicitly stated and implicitly captured
interest profile. The advertising content is personalized according
to the reader's locality and demographic.
Editorial Personalization
[0084] A subscriber can draw on two kinds of news sources: those
that deliver news publications, and those that deliver news
streams. While news publications are aggregated and edited by the
publisher, news streams are aggregated either by a news publisher
or by a specialized news aggregator. News publications typically
correspond to traditional newspapers and newsmagazines, while news
streams can be many and varied: a "raw" news feed from a news
service, a cartoon strip, a freelance writer's column, a friend's
bulletin board, or the reader's own e-mail.
[0085] The netpage publication server supports the publication of
edited news publications as well as the aggregation of multiple
news streams. By handling the aggregation and hence the formatting
of news streams selected directly by the reader, the server is able
to place advertising on pages over which it otherwise has no
editorial control.
[0086] The subscriber builds a daily newspaper by selecting one or
more contributing news publications, and creating a personalized
version of each. The resulting daily editions are printed and bound
together into a single newspaper. The various members of a
household typically express their different interests and tastes by
selecting different daily publications and then customizing
them.
[0087] For each publication, the reader optionally selects specific
sections. Some sections appear daily, while others appear weekly.
The daily sections available from The New York Times online, for
example, include "Page One Plus", "National", "International",
"Opinion", "Business", "Arts/Living", "Technology", and "Sports".
The set of available sections is specific to a publication, as is
the default subset.
[0088] The reader can extend the daily newspaper by creating custom
sections, each one drawing on any number of news streams. Custom
sections might be created for e-mail and friends' announcements
("Personal"), or for monitoring news feeds for specific topics
("Alerts" or "Clippings").
[0089] For each section, the reader optionally specifies its size,
either qualitatively (e.g. short, medium, or long), or numerically
(i.e. as a limit on its number of pages), and the desired
proportion of advertising, either qualitatively (e.g. high, normal,
low, none), or numerically (i.e. as a percentage).
[0090] The reader also optionally expresses a preference for a
large number of shorter articles or a small number of longer
articles. Each article is ideally written (or edited) in both short
and long forms to support this preference.
[0091] An article may also be written (or edited) in different
versions to match the expected sophistication of the reader, for
example to provide children's and adults' versions. The appropriate
version is selected according to the reader's age. The reader can
specify a "reading age" which takes precedence over their
biological age.
[0092] The articles which make up each section are selected and
prioritized by the editors, and each is assigned a useful lifetime.
By default they are delivered to all relevant subscribers, in
priority order, subject to space constraints in the subscribers'
editions.
[0093] In sections where it is appropriate, the reader may
optionally enable collaborative filtering. This is then applied to
articles which have a sufficiently long lifetime. Each article
which qualifies for collaborative filtering is printed with rating
buttons at the end of the article. The buttons can provide an easy
choice (e.g. "liked" and "disliked`), making it more likely that
readers will bother to rate the article.
[0094] Articles with high priorities and short lifetimes are
therefore effectively considered essential reading by the editors
and are delivered to most relevant subscribers.
[0095] The reader optionally specifies a serendipity factor, either
qualitatively (e.g. do or don't surprise me), or numerically. A
high serendipity factor lowers the threshold used for matching
during collaborative filtering. A high factor makes it more likely
that the corresponding section will be filled to the reader's
specified capacity. A different serendipity factor can be specified
for different days of the week.
[0096] The reader also optionally specifies topics of particular
interest within a section, and this modifies the priorities
assigned by the editors.
[0097] The speed of the reader's Internet connection affects the
quality at which images can be delivered. The reader optionally
specifies a preference for fewer images or smaller images or both.
If the number or size of images is not reduced, then images may be
delivered at lower quality (i.e. at lower resolution or with
greater compression).
[0098] At a global level, the reader specifies how quantities,
dates, times and monetary values are localized. This involves
specifying whether units are imperial or metric, a local timezone
and time format, and a local currency, and whether the localization
consist of in situ translation or annotation. These preferences are
derived from the reader's locality by default.
[0099] To reduce reading difficulties caused by poor eyesight, the
reader optionally specifies a global preference for a larger
presentation. Both text and images are scaled accordingly, and less
information is accommodated on each page.
[0100] The language in which a news publication is published, and
its corresponding text encoding, is a property of the publication
and not a preference expressed by the user. However, the netpage
system can be configured to provide automatic translation services
in various guises.
Advertising Localization and Targeting
[0101] The personalization of the editorial content directly
affects the advertising content, because advertising is typically
placed to exploit the editorial context. Travel ads, for example,
are more likely to appear in a travel section than elsewhere. The
value of the editorial content to an advertiser (and therefore to
the publisher) lies in its ability to attract large numbers of
readers with the right demographics.
[0102] Effective advertising is placed on the basis of locality and
demographics. Locality determines proximity to particular services,
retailers etc., and particular interests and concerns associated
with the local community and environment. Demographics determine
general interests and preoccupations as well as likely spending
patterns.
[0103] A news publisher's most profitable product is advertising
"space", a multi-dimensional entity determined by the publication's
geographic coverage, the size of its readership, its readership
demographics, and the page area available for advertising.
[0104] In the netpage system, the netpage publication server
computes the approximate multi-dimensional size of a publication's
saleable advertising space on a per-section basis, taking into
account the publication's geographic coverage, the section's
readership, the size of each reader's section edition, each
reader's advertising proportion, and each reader's demographic.
[0105] In comparison with other media, the netpage system allows
the advertising space to be defined in greater detail, and allows
smaller pieces of it to be sold separately. It therefore allows it
to be sold at closer to its true value.
[0106] For example, the same advertising "slot" can be sold in
varying proportions to several advertisers, with individual
readers' pages randomly receiving the advertisement of one
advertiser or another, overall preserving the proportion of space
sold to each advertiser.
[0107] The netpage system allows advertising to be linked directly
to detailed product information and online purchasing. It therefore
raises the intrinsic value of the advertising space.
[0108] Because personalization and localization are handled
automatically by netpage publication servers, an advertising
aggregator can provide arbitrarily broad coverage of both geography
and demographics. The subsequent disaggregation is efficient
because it is automatic. This makes it more cost-effective for
publishers to deal with advertising aggregators than to directly
capture advertising. Even though the advertising aggregator is
taking a proportion of advertising revenue, publishers may find the
change profit-neutral because of the greater efficiency of
aggregation. The advertising aggregator acts as an intermediary
between advertisers and publishers, and may place the same
advertisement in multiple publications.
[0109] It is worth noting that ad placement in a netpage
publication can be more complex than ad placement in the
publication's traditional counterpart, because the publication's
advertising space is more complex. While ignoring the full
complexities of negotiations between advertisers, advertising
aggregators and publishers, the preferred form of the netpage
system provides some automated support for these negotiations,
including support for automated auctions of advertising space.
Automation is particularly desirable for the placement of
advertisements which generate small amounts of income, such as
small or highly localized advertisements.
[0110] Once placement has been negotiated, the aggregator captures
and edits the advertisement and records it on a netpage ad server.
Correspondingly, the publisher records the ad placement on the
relevant netpage publication server. When the netpage publication
server lays out each user's personalized publication, it picks the
relevant advertisements from the netpage ad server.
Interstitial Advertising
[0111] The netpage system provides a mechanism whereby advertising
can be placed automatically in otherwise empty space in a document.
A typical netpage interaction sequence is likely to print many
single pages where the reverse side of the page is empty.
[0112] Advertising can be placed in space within a document,
particularly the reverse side of a netpage sheet where the reverse
side is otherwise empty. The advertising is non-intrusive, and
although it may not be seen immediately, it persists on the page
and may be seen later.
[0113] With reference to FIG. 6, a document page 500 may have page
content 501 at the top of the page and empty space at the bottom of
the page. FIG. 6 illustrates an example of the placement of an
advertisement 502 in empty space on the same page of the
document.
[0114] With reference to FIG. 7, a document page 503 may have page
content 504 filling the front page, and may be blank on the reverse
side 505 of the page. FIG. 7 illustrates an example of the
placement of an advertisement 506 on the otherwise empty reverse
side of a document.
[0115] The advertising can be placed in personalized publications,
or any netpage document, as long as there is space available.
However, as usual, this advertising is the most effective when
targeted to the user, i.e. demographically based.
[0116] Ownership of this "interstitial" advertising space can lie
with the application provider that provides the document content,
or with the infrastructure provider involved in document delivery,
such as the printer provider. In any case the advertising can be
chosen in various ways to relate to the content of the page or
document.
CONCLUSION
[0117] The present invention has been described with reference to a
preferred embodiment and number of specific alternative
embodiments. However, it will be appreciated by those skilled in
the relevant fields that a number of other embodiments, differing
from those specifically described, will also fall within the spirit
and scope of the present invention. Accordingly, it will be
understood that the invention is not intended to be limited to the
specific embodiments described in the present specification,
including documents incorporated by cross-reference as appropriate.
The scope of the invention is only limited by the attached
claims.
* * * * *